Abstract:

This article holds that the recent financial collapse belongs to a family of major
boom and bust episodes associated with the way in which successive technological revolutions
are assimilated by the economy and society. This understanding would move policy thinking
away from trying to regulate against further bubbles and, instead, towards actively shaping
market conditions to enable the full flourishing of the newly installed technological
potential into what can be a sustainable global golden age. Such an objective would also
guide the necessary changes in taxation and the financial system in order to make real
economy investment more profitable than casino finance. The article briefly describes the
recurring historical pattern, discusses the nature of what can be seen as the recent double
bubble collapse and examines the elements of a possible global golden age combining universal
ICT, "green" growth and full global development.

'...the book fills an important gap in the literature on business cycles and innovations.
I most strongly commend it to all those attempting to understand the past and future
evolution of technology and the economy.'

'...Carlota Perez shows us that historically technological revolutions arrive with remarkable regularity,
and that economies react to them in predictable phases. Her argument provides much needed perspective not
just on history, but on our own times. And especially on our own information revolution.'